Ultimately, our stance on it moving forward is "does this appeal to kids" versus "is this directed at kids." Like many others in our community, nothing we do is targeted directly at kids. Some videos are made knowing that kids will rack up views, like Playhouse Disney, Princesses... However, many fall into the grey area like parades and shows that are meant for all ages, but clearly still can appeal to children, because of the inclusion of characters and music.
It doesn't really matter what our intention was, but more or less what the outcome is and many people don't want to be honest about who they are appealing to, because they are afraid of it will kill revenue and it might end up doing so. I know at least two vloggers that would probably say they don't target children and they appeal to all ages, especially adults, but then they get swarmed by kids when they are seen in the parks. That raises the question, did the kids discover the personality and the parents decided to watch too or vice versa?
YouTube is complicated. If a video is short, but generates 30k in a few hours then it might still make only a hundred bucks, but if the same happens for a 30 minute plus video it can be 3-4x that. It's the same idea if a 5 minute video gets 500k views vs a 20 minute video getting 500k views. Big views don't always guarantee lots of money, especially when a lot of views are driven with content that contains copyrighted music in the Disney world of things.
All that being said, COPPA will primarily affect YouTubers who rely on YouTube. We do not. It helps us advertise Dreams and other partners on DIS Unplugged and provides helpful trip planning info on The DIS side. It helps us offset costs, but that's all. If you're a YouTuber that makes enough to get by without needing a second job then it might mean they have to go back to doing YouTube as a side job instead of full time. If a YouTuber makes enough to have a very comfortable life, it might mean cutting back on some expenses that they could previously afford.
At the end of the day, it might not end up affecting anyone. Some people will be like us and opt for being safe versus sorry and others will just risk it to not have an impact. It is all so vague still that no one is positive about anything. I don't want to be the first person to get a fine though. YouTube won't be issuing fines, so it could be a thing like back in the late 90s early 2000s with music piracy and hearing about some people you know getting a fine, but most people don't and still continue to do it anyways. If anyone is going to get hit, it's going to be the people with high subscribers ignoring the regulations or channels with videos that have millions of views that are clearly marked incorrectly.
